BROCKTON, Mass. (AP) — Brockton has agreed to pay more than $2 million to settle class-action racial discrimination claims by people who said they were denied jobs at city's Public Works Department.
The settlement includes $1.75 million to compensate 69 applicants, and $300,000 for improvements at the city’s human resources department, diversity training and antidiscrimination training practices, The Enterprise of Brockton reported Tuesday.
The class members are qualified, nonwhite applicants for positions at the Brockton Department of Public Works between October 2010 and December 2019.
The case stems from a multimillion-dollar lawsuit won in 2017 by Russell Lopes, a former applicant for a job at the department who said he was denied the position due to racially biased employment discrimination.
Philip Gordon, an attorney for Lopes, called the settlement “fair and reasonable."
The city denied the discrimination claims, but Leonard Kestin, an attorney for the city, said the settlement is in the best interests of taxpayers.
The settlement requires approval from a judge, who said he was inclined to approve it.
